Let’s break down how subjective randomness allows us to cut out all other influences. Remember that our definition of subjective randomness had 3 parts: 1) sensitivity to conditions (or influences); 2) non-repetition of conditions; and 3) a lack of knowledge of the conditions. In this post, we’ll look at just part 1 of this definition. …
Randomness is pretty important. Science would fall apart without it. Not just because randomised control trials wouldn’t be randomised, but because almost any experiment would produce junk. Say Galileo dropped his spheres of different weights, but their falls were affected by other (external) things non-randomly. The results would be biased or inconsistent, and we might …
In the last post, we saw that the choices we make aren’t free. That is, our choices (like how to get to work) are influenced by other things. Sometimes these things are obvious, like the weather or how quickly we need to get somewhere. Sometimes they are more subtle, like whether we had a good …
You move to a new city to start an exciting new job — Congratulations! — and you find a place to stay that the map suggests is about a 20 minute walk to work. Now that you’re in your new place, you check if there’s a quicker way to get in, and find a bus …